Hard choices ahead for UK science funding

The UK election has resulted in a mixed message for science and education among one of the lowest turnouts (65% of registered voters) since World War II. The next few months are going to see big debates over the funding and policy decisions put in place by the former Labour government on climate change, energy, the UK’s involvement with CERN, the European Southern Observatory, and the new UK space agency, and over the amount of money it can invest in research and education. Hints of how the new government will handle those issues are in the party manifestoes and in the individuals chosen for the newly appointed cabinet.

Moreover, an analysis by the London Times newspaper predicted that some 71 candidates with scientific backgrounds have been elected, down from 86 of the 650 members in the last parliament.

An odd score

The UK follows a first-past-the-post voting system—whoever gets the most votes wins in that given district—which can lead to a disparity between the number of seats obtained in the House of Commons and the overall vote achieved by the political parties.

Election results

After five days of discussion between the Conservative party (Tories), led by David Cameron (see left image), and the left-of-center Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems), led by Nick Clegg (below right), a new coalition government was formed for the first time since 1974.

What’s new

The coalition was required for two main reasons. First, if the Tories or Labour tried to form a government by themselves, nearly every vote was liable to be lost and the likelihood of a new election being called within weeks would be high. Second, all three parties downplayed the significant cuts (at least £6 billion to start with) to popular programs such as education that will have to be made to get the government’s finances under control.

Instead of a simple majority vote to bring the government down, the arrangement between the Tories and the Lib Dems calls for a bill to be passed, which would require a 55% vote in the House of Commons. This move will limit the ability of radicals in either party from derailing the coalition.

The agreement also results in a fixed five-year term of office. In the past, the prime minister could dissolve parliament at the most opportune time for his party to win re-election.

The appointments

Clegg has been named deputy prime minister , in charge of reforming the UK’s electoral system, and five of his Lib Dem colleagues will have cabinet positions , in the treasury (David Laws ), energy and the environment (Chris Huhne ), business (Vince Cable ), and Scotland (Danny Alexander ). Tory MP William Hague is the new Foreign Secretary.

Moreover, because of unavoidable differences between the two parties, such as the need for at least 10 new nuclear power plants , the Lib Dems will abstain to preserve their independence (although the Tories would be likely to pick up Labour support for any such move, as they first proposed the new UK nuclear building program four years ago) or will create a joint commission to investigate alternative options (such as the replacement for the Trident nuclear warhead , which soaks up 5% of the defense budget; the Lib Dems campaigned against replacing it ).

The new science minister

The conservative MP David Willetts (left image) is the new Minister of State for Universities and Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The move was generally seen as a good pick by science lobbyist groups in the UK. It’s the first time the responsibilities of both science and the universities have fallen under one remit.

“In his former roles as Shadow Secretary for Education and then Innovation, Universities and Skills, Willetts always engaged with science issues,” says Hilary Leevers, acting director of the UK nonprofit Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE). “We look forward to working with him in the near future, starting with making a positive and strong case for funding science and engineering prior to the first budget.”

Both Willetts and the new minister of education, Michael Grove, have spoken publicly about improving science, math, and engineering skills, the funding of which should (in theory) be relatively protected by the influence of the Lib Dems on the cabinet as the Lib Dems called for 2.5% of GDP to be spent on R&D in their election manifesto.

Like the previous science minister (Paul Drayson ), Willetts is expected to attend cabinet briefings without being a full cabinet minister. This will provide Willetts with weekly access to the prime minister.

Willetts was also a supporter of the proposed science program put together by David Sainsbury , for the conservatives earlier this year. In fact, the influence of the Lib Dems can be seen by keeping the science position as a minister of state, which was not in the Tory manifesto.

The most difficult and important task Willetts will have to do is to work with his boss, the new business secretary and former economist Vince Cable, over the funding of the UK research councils —which are in charge of nearly all nondefense-related research in the UK.

There is one advantage to Cable’s appointment: His son is a PhD physicist at Imperial College London , and he is generally seen as being very pro-science and supportive of research. Because of the state of UK finances, however, he may push for more industry tax credits for doing R&D than new funding for the research councils.

Willetts spoke to New Scientist shortly after the election about the autumn budget and its impact on the science community. “Even if this public spending exercise is painful, there will be a minimum of a three-year framework for public spending,” he said. We are trying to give people a stable framework to plan their future over the next five years, he added.

In the short term the biggest effect the election will have on academia is a delay of implementing the new funding system for universities—the Research Excellence Framework . Like the outgoing Labour government, the coalition is keen on measuring metrics regarding investing in science and education, but also like Labour, no one has a clear idea how to do it.

A loss and a gain

One of the most visible losses was by Lib Dems, of MP Evan Harris . Harris, a secularist and one of the few physicians in the House of Commons, was a big proponent of science, even on topics that most politicians typically avoid, such as stem cell and animal research. In the days before the election his constituency received leaflets from the Animal Protection Party, accusing him of being “doctor death,” and from the Rev Lynda Rose, accusing him of being pro-choice and anti-religion .

He lost his Oxford West and Abingdon seat by 176 votes to conservative and evangelical Christian Nicola Blackwood, an opera singer and musicologist.

Cambridge showed how a seat of learning can elect a scientist, by giving enough votes to Lib Dem Julian Huppert , a computational biologist , who won by 6792 votes. The US Congress, on the other hand, has fewer than 5 members with a science background.

Paul Guinnessy